APRIL 8, 2022 JORDAN HALL - A BOSTON CONNECTION CONCERT presented in partnership with New England Conservatory - Boston Modern Orchestra Project
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GIL ROSE, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
ORCHESTRAL SERIES
APRIL 8, 2022
JORDAN HALL
A BOSTON CONNECTION CONCERT
presented in partnership with New England ConservatoryEllen Taaffe Zwilich Portrait Concert FRIDAY APRIL 8, 2022 8:00
BMOP 20182019
JORDAN HALL AT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
Portrait Concert
COMING UP NEXT A BOSTON CONNECTION CONCERT
presented in partnership with New England Conservatory
JUNE 17, 2022 —
THE STRAND THEATRE FRIDAY APRIL 8, 2022 8:00
X
JORDAN HALL AT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
The Life
and Times of Upbeat!
Malcolm X Concerto Elegia for flute and string orchestra
I. Elegy
The New England premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winner II. Soliloquy
Anthony Davis’s groundbreaking opera. III. Epilogue
Starring Davóne Tines and featuring Joshua Conyers,
Sarah Brady, flute
Ronnita Miller, Whitney Morrison, and Victor
Robertson. Through a combination of operatic writing
Commedia dell’Arte for violin and string orchestra
and swing, scat, modal jazz, and rap, the opera echoes
the “sound” of Malcolm’s era and opens a powerful I. Arlecchino
NETTRICE GASKINS
conversation about the history and living legacy of II. Columbina
Malcolm X — in Boston and around the world. BMOP’s III. Il Capitano
performance, produced in partnership with Odyssey Opera, brings this IV. Cadenza and Finale
seminal opera to The Strand Theatre in Dorchester, just blocks from the Gabriela Díaz, violin
neighborhood where Malcolm X lived in his youth.
Symphony No. 5 (Concerto for Orchestra)
The first opera in AS TOLD BY, a five-year series of seminal operas by I. Prologue
Black composers. II. Celebration
III. Memorial
IV. Epilogue
This performance and recording comprise
AS GIL ROSE, conductor
TOLD
the first work in our series of operas by Black
composers, As Told By: History, Race, and
BY
This concert and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s appearance are part of
Justice on the Opera Stage. the Malcolm Peyton Composer Artist-in-Residence program at
New England Conservatory.
Presented in partnership with Odyssey OperaTHE MALCOLM PEY TON 5
COMPOSER ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE
was established in 2018 to honor Malcolm Peyton, a
member of the NEC Composition Faculty for over 50 years.
During his remarkable tenure, Malcolm influenced the
lives and careers of many students through his teaching
and direction, as well as his dedication to the creation of new music at NEC.
This residency was established to recognize his devotion to NEC and to the
continued pursuit of excellence in the Composition Department.
PROGRAM NOTES
CLIVE GRAINGER
By Clifton Ingram
TONIGHT’S PERFORMERS UPBEAT! (1999)
As expected of an orchestral opener, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Upbeat! begins with a jolt of
FLUTE TRUMPET VIOLIN I VIOLA orchestral energy, a cascading descent of high winds and strings. This initial gesture is
Ashley Addington Eric Berlin Gabriela Díaz Peter Sulski like an inversion of the upward jab of the “Mannheim Rocket,” a fashionable technique of
Allison Parramore Andy Kozar Alyssa Wang Alexander Vavilov
the late 18th century during the Classical era. Here, however, Zwilich’s downward-reaching
Jessica Lizak Richard Kelley Susan Jensen Emily Rideout
Piotr Buczek Emily Rome gesture grounds the orchestra and briefly settles into a syncopated groove of brass and
OBOE TROMBONE
Sonia Deng David Feltner violins, reminiscent of the Americana verve of Aaron Copland, before returning to itera-
Jennifer Slowik Hans Bohn Nicole Parks Dan Dona tions on the initial gesture that propels the orchestra ever-forward.
Nancy Dimock Alexei Doohovskoy Jesse Iron Noralee Walker
Laura Pardee If this opening music sounds familiar to historically-inclined ears, the composer has
BASS TROMBONE Ben Carson
CELLO
CLARINET Chris Beaudry Rob Lehmann intended it to be so. From the get-go of Upbeat!, Zwilich quotes the famous “Preludio” of
Nicole Cariglia
Jan Halloran Rebecca Katsenes J.S. Bach’s Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006. Her title for this program opener is
TUBA Jing Li
Kevin Price
Ben Vasko VIOLIN II Darry Dolezal therefore a play on words, referring to both the “lively and joyous ‘upbeat’ character of
Gary Gorczyca Colleen Brannen Ariel Friedman [Bach’s] music” as well as the gesture’s beginning on a musical upbeat to create rhythmic
PERCUSSION Lilit Hartunian Hyun-ji Kwon
BASSOON
Adrian Morejon Robert Schulz Annegret Klaua Nate Johnson inertia, inherent in the syncopation of Bach’s bold solo violin writing.
Nick Tolle Kay Rooney Matthews Zwilich’s affinity for the history of violin writing started in the early days of the Miami-
Jensen Ling
Bill Manley BASS
Greg Newton Edward Wu born composer’s musical upbringing. Of her nascent days in music, Zwilich explains,
Michael Zell Kate Foss
Sean Larkin
HORN Jonathan Hess Randall Ziegler I went to a high school that had a very good band, and we had a couple of choruses
Betsy Hinkle
Neil Godwin Michael Hartery
EmmaLee Holmes Hicks and an orchestra [where] we would play a Mozart symphony. The bizarre thing for
Dave Ruffino Liz Foulser
Natalie Calma the time, which I didn’t realize then, was that we had behind-the-screen auditions.
Marina Krickler Deborah Boykan
Helen Wargelin
Zwilich thrived in this inclusive musical environment, one which progressively emphasized
merit and avoided the biases against women in music so common at the time.
After finishing a bachelor’s degree at Florida State University in 1960, Zwilich moved
to New York City to play violin with the American Symphony Orchestra under the baton of
renowned conductor Leopold Stokowski. In this way, Zwilich is no stranger to the historical
tradition of orchestral literature. Yet her musical interests remained broad and omnivorous,
traits that have served her well in forging her own unique compositional voice. About the
origins of her style, Zwilich states:6 It’s all kind of a mixed bag. I feel like I have a voice, but I don’t have a regular style This is not the first time that Zwilich’s music has underlined this very human story 7
[and] I wouldn’t want to write like somebody else. My background includes all kinds of struggling with loss by using an intentional shifting between musical styles. Although
of things. I played under Stokowski for seven years and had a strong background Zwilich’s earlier works in the 1970s had more readily embraced a brazen atonality, this
in classical tradition. In college I played jazz and bebop, and that comes out in my would be replaced in the 1980s with a more neoromantic postmodernism and blending
music. I’m not going to sit down and say, ‘I’ll write something jazzy.’ If it comes out of styles. Zwilich’s music had first garnered public attention in 1975 when the iconoclast
that way, I’ll take it. Pierre Boulez conducted her Symposium at Juilliard. But shortly thereafter, her husband
Joseph Zwilich (violinist for the Metropolitan Opera) passed away in 1979. In the wake
After her formative years with the American Symphony Orchestra, Zwilich continued
of this loss, Zwilich refocused her compositional voice to one “communicating more
her musical studies at Juilliard, where she became the first woman to receive a doctorate
directly with performers and listeners,” softening the more harshly angular and jagged
in composition in 1973. Against the odds, she continued to make a name for herself as a
dissonances of mid-century modernism.
pioneer in the field and, within a decade, became the first woman composer to be awarded
Concerto Elegia, written nearly four decades later, demonstrates Zwilich’s continua-
the Pulitzer Prize in music in 1983 for her Symphony No. 1. Zwilich’s genuine popularity
tion of using different styles, now used to tell a more explicit story of overcoming painful
with audiences rests on her concise and accessible brand of modernism, which employs
loss. This concerto for flute and string orchestra begins more like Zwilich’s earlier work
a passionately obsessive development of motivic materials that generate the wholesale
with its ambiguous harmonies that shift in and out of tonality. However, the work evolves
melodic, harmonic, and structural character of her work.
slowly across its three movements, ranging from a floating sadness — where the flute’s
Upbeat! was commissioned and premiered in September of 1999 by both the National
melancholic and meandering melodies soar atop hauntingly dark string textures — to
Symphony Orchestra and the Westchester Symphony Orchestra with performances con-
a more lively and conversant interplay between soloist and ensemble, using jazz-like
ducted by Anthony Aibel. The work progresses organically from its Bach-quoting origins,
passages and rhythms.
never losing steam and putting the string section through a rigorous workout of demand-
The first movement, “Elegy,” begins with a serpentine and searching solo by the
ing tutti passages. Despite its musical challenges, Upbeat! remains lighthearted, a jovial
flute that goes beyond mourning, verging into a kind of longing that seems to yearn for
romp that both meets and thwarts expectations, as evident in Zwilich’s humanistic,
something beyond reach. Surely, there are ecstatic moments when the flute cries out in
path-less-traveled writing process:
its upper registers as if in pain; but there are also depressive lows as the soloist performs
I sometimes say to young composers, ‘Life is not like a GPS where you go three miles long passages in the wind instrument’s lower register, expressing a deep sorrow for an
and make a right. It’s full of all these accidental things. It’s more like driving around almost unbearable loss as if unable to go on. However, the glassy support of molto legato
in a country and stopping there and staying a few days.’ That’s how I feel about writ- strings is occasionally disrupted by the soft thrum of plucking pizzicato, one that never
ing. I don’t want to have a road map of what I’m going to do. I want to feel it and have quite seems to shake the flute from an inward expression. These “waking moments” from
it just come out. We don’t know what music is, but for me, it’s the entire human, the the strings are like a rapping at the door, attempting to signal the flute to return to a reality,
brains, the heart, the soul, the guts. It should make you want to sing and dance. It’s one that the flute perhaps wishes to ignore because it is yet to offer any solace for the pain.
sorrow and joy and everything we have as humans. “Soliloquy,” the second movement, is a more regularly rhythmic affair. Scored in three
beats per measure, the music often strains against the cage of its time signature, stretching
across the bar lines in groups of four beats. In this way, the floating sensation of the first
CONCERTO ELEGIA (2015)
movement still survives. Yet, something has changed. The strings begin in long tones in
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich is an old hand at writing concertos and concertante works, ones where
a senza vibrato, but — like with the soft plucking of pizzicato in the first movement — they
solo instruments are featured amongst larger instrumental forces. With an expansive list
more readily take on a regular pulse by repeating chords. The flute still winds through a
ranging from the mid-1980s until the present day, tonight’s program features three such
solitary melody but is goaded into a more conversational and collaborative music, letting
works: one for flute and string orchestra, another for violin and string orchestra, and
loose momentary moments of jazzy exuberance. Eventually, the flute loses more and more
lastly a “concerto for orchestra.”
of its isolation as it joins the strings, which take on warmer harmonies.
The first of these works on tonight’s program is Concerto Elegia, which was composed
In the final movement, titled “Epilogue,” the strings continue to melt the solitude of
in memory of Zwilich’s late husband Erik LaMont. Commissioned by a consortium of 11
the soloist by offering a soft palette of harmony. After staggering their bowing to create
orchestras and premiered by flutist Trudy Kane at the University of Miami’s Frost School
a continuous harmonic wall, the flute finally acquiesces and climbs this “wall of sound”
of Music in 2015, the musical narrative of Concerto Elegia runs a gamut of emotions as if
with a new-found scalar agility. Pizzicato from the strings is once again employed by
grappling with the stages of grief: anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Cast
Zwilich to provoke the soloist, and an upbeat tempo is achieved, complete with jazzy
in three movements, the flute soloist grapples with grief in solitude, eventually becom-
riffs aplenty and a bebop-inflected chromaticism. While the pain of loss cannot be said
ing more conversant with the supporting strings in order to come to terms with sadness
to be completely gone, since the flute still continues to act against the string orchestra
in the face of loss.8 in some respects, the soloist’s playing has become more functional and integrated into traditionally a cartoon caricature of a military man: bold and swaggering, yet ultimately 9
the ensemble. The strings now feel less like a shroud to wrap up the soloist’s solitude, as cowardly. The solo violinist begins in the lower register, marked “ponderous.” The writing
the flute writing becomes more dance-like. The flute ends repeating low-register notes, is largely percussive and often calls for double-stops (where two pitches are played at
signaling a resolution that verges on resignation and exhaustion, but one that also melts once) or even triple-to-quadruple stops.
with tenderness and acceptance. In the final movement, titled “Cadenza and Finale,” the characters are imagined to
meet and interact. Rather than be too prescriptive by providing a specific narrative here,
Zwilich intends for the listener to decide who is who and what might be happening in
COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE (2012) this closing music. The movement opens with the atmospheric jangling of pipe bells,
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Commedia dell’Arte is a much different kind of casting for soloist played by several members of the accompanying string section. Quickly, the solo violin-
and ensemble than Concerto Elegia. Here, we find the composer at her most playful, ist takes over to play a long cadenza that combines the gestures of the previous three
returning to writing for her beloved violin. Zwilich conceived of this piece as a bravura movements. The “squat-and-jump” registral jumps of Arlecchino are blended seamlessly
concerto, one that shows off the bold virtuosic talent of the soloist. So it is also fitting with the delicately sultry melodic and faux-belligerent rhythmic gestures of Colombina
that the composer took inspiration from the Italian theatrical tradition from which the and Capitano to theatrical effect.
work takes its name. Popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries,
commedia dell’arte employs archetypal characters who represent members of society
but in a more exaggerated and “bigger than life” way — in essence, they are caricatures SYMPHONY NO. 5 (CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA) (2008)
intended for the theatricality of the stage. Zwilich titles the first three movements of the Commissioned by the Juilliard School in honor of Bruce Kovner and Suzie Kovner with
work after some of these traditional characters. support of the Trust of Francis Goelet, Zwilich’s Symphony No. 5 work was premiered
“Arlecchino” appears in the first movement. Perhaps better known as Harlequin in October of 2008 at Carnegie Hall by the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of James
to some, Arlecchino is “basically an acrobat,” a member of the Zanni, a servant class Conlon. Zwilich divides the work into a traditional four movements. Subtitled “Concerto
originating from the countryside. He is a clown of sorts, paradoxically both a dimwitted for Orchestra,” Zwilich explains that “The entire work treats the orchestra like a huge
fool and an intelligent trickster: fun-loving, child-like, and also amorous. His role in the chamber ensemble, in which each player or section can be a brilliant soloist one moment
commedia tradition is often to create chaos, and Zwilich leans into this tradition by at- and a sensitive partner the next.”
tributing an off-kilter Bartokian writing to the strings. The violin soloist’s part is marked This intentional fluidity of genre and instrumental interaction demonstrates Zwilich’s
scherzando, which means playful and joking, and Zwilich’s virtuosic writing calls for flair for orchestration. She also notes that two personal motives drove her while writing
left-hand pizzicato, a technique where the player uses their left hand — which is usu- this work: (1) her relationship to Juilliard, the place where she first honed her composi-
ally reserved for stopping the string, while the right-hand’s bow or fingers activate the tion voice and for whose orchestra she takes great pleasure in writing because of their
strings — to pluck a string, allowing the right-hand to continue to use the bow. The music dedication to the medium, and (2) her respect for conductor James Conlon’s “dedication
is fast, clever, and deeply rhythmic, provoked by a violist in the ensemble armed with to the music of composers who were politically silenced.”
a slapstick, a percussion instrument who’s clapping emphasizes the soloist’s acrobatic “Prologue,” the first movement, begins without beating around the bush: a thickly
“squat-and-jump” clowning-around. scored music thrusts quickly upwards suddenly out of nowhere, cresting like a great wave
Another auxiliary instrument is employed in the second movement, entitled into a crashing forte. A more tender theme emerges from the chaos between flute and
“Colombina.” This time, a tambourine is played by a cellist. Colombina is a much differ- horn, but this peacefulness is quickly dashed over and over again by another iteration
ent stock character in the commedia dell’arte tradition. Where Arlecchino was a puckish of the “cresting wave” gesture. The music continues to be restless, shifting and turning
rogue, Colombina is a “little dove,” sensual yet sensible, often the object of Arlecchino’s from moment to moment to give every instrument their time in the spotlight. There is an
desires. In fact, the tambourine she carries was often used to ward off the amorous ever-present sense of urbane danger to the proceedings, often exacerbated by percussive
attentions of the trickster-clown. Zwilich appropriately marks the solo violinist’s music explosions, usually followed by fleeting moments of gentleness and fragility.
in this movement with words like “sweet, expressive,” “a little sultry,” “bird-like,” and This opening movement serves to introduce the main thematic material used across
“whimsical.” The soloist starts off coy and poised before pushing the music into more the different movements, about which Zwilich has said, “Like most of my large-scale works,
extroverted passions. The accompanying strings are marked con sordino (with mute), the long line of the work grows from material in the opening movement, sometimes in
providing a husky tone for Colombina’s dance-like music. The strings also strum whole clearly recognizable motives and variations, but most frequently in more subtle evolu-
chords during pizzicato passages, providing an almost flamenco-like tone, which works tions.” Therefore, the listening experience can be a bit of a hunt to find these themes,
well with the shimmering tambourine. which seem hidden by the composer, only to be revealed again in surprising new ways.
The third movement, and the last of Zwilich’s commedia characters, is “Capitano.” The second movement, “Celebration,” is full of a “vibrant energy” in celebration of
An accompanying violinist begins the movement with a mock militaristic roll of a toy the dedicated artistry of the Juilliard Symphony. Like the first movement, Zwilich wastes
drum, setting the stage for bellicose bravura and buffoonery. Il Capitano (the captain) is no time as the writing plunges the instruments into a fast and wild ecstatic frenzy of ris-10 ing and falling waves of sound. Surprising segues from the different orchestral sections, 11
especially the brass and percussion, add extra excitement. One might imagine the music GUEST ARTISTS
to be the soundtrack to a cinematic car chase or action sequence.
Called “enchanting” by the Boston Globe, flutist SA R A H
“Memorial,” the third movement, provides a moment of needed respite. This move-
BRADY is sought after across the country as a soloist, chamber
ment is dedicated “in remembrance of composers whose voices were silenced by tyranny,”
musician, and master teacher. An avid promoter of new music
which only enhances its gravity. The same thematic material from the first two movements
she has premiered and recorded new music from many of today’s
is still present, but the atmosphere is less dense and much more sweeping in scope. There
top composers. Recent projects have included premieres of new
is still a hint of violence, an unsteady churning of instrumental forces where one is never
solo flute and electronic music from Elena Ruehr, Andy Vores,
quite sure what to expect next. The “Epilogue” closes the symphony, opening with the
Marti Epstein, Reinaldo Moya, John Mallia, and Curtis Hughes,
ghostly glances of wire brushes on the skins of timpani drums amidst the low thrum of
as well as music for flute and strings from Marcos Balter, Nicholas
cello and bass. Percussion is even more on display here than in previous movements,
Vines and Johnathan Bailey Holland. Her solo and chamber work,
giving the finale a more jazzy edge.
as well as over 50 orchestral recordings can be heard on the
In general, Zwilich’s Symphony No. 5 relies heavily on contrasts to keep the ear’s
Albany, Naxos, Oxingale, Cantalope and BMOP/Sound music labels. As a leading inter-
attention while the different permutations of her themes are being passed around the
preter of contemporary music, she was invited to read and record new music commissioned
orchestral instruments. There is a kind of hot-cold juxtaposition here as well, between
by Yo Yo Ma for his Silk Road Project at Tanglewood.
music of intense highs and lows. Indeed, when talking about composing for orchestra in
Sarah lives in Boston and performs regularly as principal flute with the Boston Modern
interviews, Zwilich has noted how the writing is done in solitude, which is a rather inward
Orchestra Project and Odyssey Opera. She can also be heard performing with the Boston
and insular journey. However, once rehearsals begin, the composer is thrust into a much
Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Boston Ballet, Portland Symphony Orchestra, and
more social situation, engaging with the conductor and many musicians to hone the
Boston Lyric Opera. As a chamber musician she has collaborated with the Fromm Players
music previously only heard in her imagination. Zwilich has likened this juxtaposition to
at Harvard, the Firebird Ensemble, the Radius Ensemble, Boston Musica Viva, The Talea
that of sauna cultures, where exposure to extreme hot temperatures is often followed by
Ensemble, Callithumpian Consort, Sound Icon, and NotaRiotous. She is a member of
plunging one’s self into frigidly cold waters. Her fifth symphony works much the same by
the Michigan-based new music ensemble Brave New Works, a group that is dedicated
guiding the listener through a series of hot and cold climates over and over again, often
to promoting new music throughout the US and Canada by premiering new music and
in quick succession. The effect can be dazzling and prismatic, threatening to lose those
educating young composers through a college residency program. The ensemble has
who are not ready for the ride. Though Zwilich’s themes are always audibly present, the
been in residence at Cornell, Bowling Green University, the University of Michigan, Tufts
material is never quite the same throughout, flowing much like a river whose rapids rage
University, University of Puget Sound, Williams, Western Washington University, and
at one point only to slow and ebb at another, providing excitement about what might lie
Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
just beyond the next bend.
In competition she was awarded second place in the National Flute Association 2006
Young Artist Competition, where she also won an award for the best performance of
Clifton Ingram is a composer, performer (Rested Field, guitars/electronics), and writer interested
in the fault lines between contemporary and historical traditions. He holds degrees in music the newly commissioned work by Paul Drescher. She was a semi-finalist in the Myrna
(composition) and classics from Skidmore College and The Boston Conservatory. Brown Competition Flute Competition, Heida Herman Woodwind Competition, Eastern
Connecticut Young Artist Competition, and twice received second place in Boston’s pres-
tigious Pappoutsakis Flute Competition. As a soloist Sarah enjoyed a sold out debut at
Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall with pianist Oxana Yablonskaya. Currently, Sarah is the Director
of the Contemporary Classical Music Department as well as Associate Professor of Flute
at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.12 Georgia native GABRIELA DÍAZ began her musical training 13
at the age of five, studying piano with her mother, and the next ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
year, violin with her father. As a childhood cancer survivor,
GIL ROSE is a musician helping to shape the future of clas-
LIZ LINDER
Gabriela is committed to supporting cancer research and treat-
sical music. Acknowledged for his “sense of style and sophisti-
ment in her capacity as a musician. In 2004, Gabriela was a
cation” by Opera News, noted as “an amazingly versatile
recipient of a grant from the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, an
conductor” by The Boston Globe, and praised for conducting
award that enabled Gabriela to create and direct the Boston
with “admiral command” by The New York Times, over the past
Hope Ensemble. This program is now part of Winsor Music. A firm
two decades Mr. Rose has built a reputation as one of the coun-
believer in the healing properties of music, Gabriela and her
try’s most inventive and versatile conductors. His dynamic per-
colleagues have performed in cancer units in Boston hospitals
formances on both the symphonic and operatic stages as well
and presented benefit concerts for cancer research organizations in numerous venues
as over 80 recordings have garnered international critical praise.
throughout the United States.
In 1996, Mr. Rose founded the Boston Modern Orchestra Project
A fierce champion of contemporary music, Gabriela has been fortunate to work closely
(BMOP), the foremost professional orchestra dedicated exclusively to performing and
with many significant composers on their own compositions, namely Pierre Boulez,
recording symphonic music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Under his lead-
Magnus Lindberg, Frederic Rzewski, Alvin Lucier, Unsuk Chin, John Zorn, Joan Tower,
ership, BMOP has won fourteen ASCAP awards for adventurous programming and was
Roger Reynolds, Chaya Czernowin, Steve Reich, Tania León, Brian Ferneyhough, and
selected as Musical America’s 2016 Ensemble of the Year, the first symphony orchestra
Helmut Lachenmann. Gabriela is a member of several Boston-area contemporary music
to receive this distinction. Mr. Rose serves as the executive producer of the BMOP/sound
groups, including Sound Icon, Ludovico Ensemble, Dinosaur Annex, Boston Musica Viva,
recording label. His extensive discography includes world premiere recordings of music
and Callithumpian Consort. She plays regularly with Winsor Music, Castle of our Skins,
by John Cage, Lukas Foss, Chen Yi, Anthony Davis, Lisa Bielawa, Steven Mackey, Eric
Radius Ensemble, and Emmanuel Music and frequently collaborates with Alarm Will
Nathan, and many others on such labels as Albany, Arsis, Chandos, ECM, Naxos, New
Sound, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICEensemble), and A Far Cry. In 2012
World, and BMOP/sound.
Gabriela joined the violin faculty of Wellesley College. Gabriela is co-artistic director of
In September 2013, he introduced a new company to the Boston opera scene, Odyssey
the much beloved Boston-based chamber music and outreach organization Winsor Music.
Opera, dedicated to eclectic and underperformed operatic repertoire. Since the company’s
inaugural performance of Wagner’s Rienzi, which took the Boston scene by storm, Odyssey
Opera has continued to receive universal acclaim for its annual festivals with compel-
ling themes and unique programs, presenting fully staged operatic works and concert
performances of overlooked grand opera masterpieces. In its first five years, Mr. Rose has
brought 22 operas to Boston, and introduced the city to some important new artists. In
2016 Mr. Rose founded Odyssey Opera’s in-house recording label with its first release,
Pietro Mascagni’s Zanetto. A double disc of one act operas by notable American composer
Dominick Argento, and the world premiere recording of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s The
Importance of Being Earnest followed. In the past year, Odyssey has released premiere
recordings of Charles Gounod’s La Reine de Saba and Saint-Saëns’s Henry VIII.
Formerly, Mr. Rose led Opera Boston as its Music Director starting in 2003, and in
2010 was appointed the company’s first Artistic Director. He led Opera Boston in several
American and New England premieres including Shostakovich’s The Nose, Weber’s Der
Freischütz, and Hindemith’s Cardillac. In 2009, Mr. Rose led the world premiere of Zhou
Long’s Madame White Snake, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2011. Mr. Rose
also served as the artistic director of Opera Unlimited, a contemporary opera festival as-
sociated with Opera Boston. With Opera Unlimited, he led the world premiere of Elena
Ruehr’s Toussaint Before the Spirits and the New England premiere of Thomas Adès’s
Powder Her Face, as well as the revival of John Harbison’s Full Moon in March, and the
North American premiere of Peter Eötvös’s Angels in America.
Mr. Rose maintains a busy schedule as a guest conductor on both the opera and
symphonic platforms. He made his Tanglewood debut in 2002 and in 2003 he debuted14 with the Netherlands Radio Symphony at the Holland Festival. He has led the American
Composers Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine,
Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, and National Orchestra of
Porto. In 2015, he made his Japanese debut substituting for Seiji Ozawa at the Matsumoto
Festival conducting Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict, and in March 2016 made his debut with
New York City Opera at the Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has since returned
to City Opera in 2017 (as Conductor and Director) and 2018 conducting a double bill of
Rameau & Donizetti’s Pigmalione. In 2019, he made his debut conducting the Juilliard
Symphony in works of Ligeti and Tippett.
As an educator, he has served on the faculty of Tufts University and Northeastern
University as well as worked with students at a wide range of colleges such as Harvard,
MIT, New England Conservatory, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California
at San Diego amongst others. BMOP/sound, the label of the acclaimed Boston Modern Orchestra Project, explores
In 2007, Mr. Rose was awarded Columbia University’s prestigious Ditson Award as
well as an ASCAP Concert Music Award for his exemplary commitment to new American
the evolution of the music formerly known as classical. Its eclectic catalog offers both
music. He is a five-time Grammy Award nominee and won Best Opera Recording in 2020 rediscovered classics of the 20th century and the music of today’s most influential and
for Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.
innovative composers. BMOP/sound gives adventurous listeners a singular opportunity
to explore the music that is defining this generation and the next.
Available for purchase at bmop.org and in the lobby during intermission
at tonight’s performance. Preview and download tracks through all major
online retailers.
BMOP/sound recordings offer superior sound quality, impeccable post-production, and distinguished packag-
ing. In addition to receiving eight Grammy Award nominations and winning for Best Opera Recording in 2020,
BMOP/sound recordings have appeared on the year-end “Best of” lists of the New York Times, Time Out New
York, the Boston Globe, American Record Guide, National Public Radio, NewMusicBox, Sequenza21, and
Downbeat magazine.
Subscriptions available
Your subscription ensures that you will receive all of BMOP/sound’s preeminent recordings
as soon as they are made available. Order now and receive:
12-CD subscription for $14 per CD (save 30%)
Each new CD before official release date
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BMOP/sound e-news
To order, call 781.324.0396 or email bmopsound@bmop.org.
Order forms are also available at the CD table in the lobby.
Gil Rose, Executive Producer | bmop.org | Distributed by Albany Music Distributors, Inc. | albanymusic.netNew from
BMOP/sound
[1080]
WALTER PISTON CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA
“BMOP is in top form, giving performances that are authoritative, powerful,
clear, and transparent.” FANFARE
[1081]
ARNOLD ROSNER THE CHRONICLE OF NINE
Megan Pachecano soprano Eric Carey tenor
James Demler baritone William Hite tenor
David Salsbery Fry bass Rebecca Krouner contralto
Aaron Engebreth baritone Stephanie Kacoyanis contralto
Krista River mezzo-soprano Gene Stenger tenor
[1082]
TOD MACHOVER DEATH AND THE POWERS
James Maddalena baritone Patricia Risley mezzo-soprano
Joélle Harvey soprano Hal Cazalet tenor
[1083]
JOHN HARBISON DIOTIMA
Dawn Upshaw soprano
“Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project bring greater vitality to
[Symphony No. 6].” GRAMOPHONE
[1084]
MATTHEW AUCOIN ORPHIC MOMENTS
Anthony Roth Costanzo counter-tenor
Conor Hanick piano Keir GoGwilt violin
[1085] UPCOMING RELEASES
GAIL KUBIK SYMPHONY CONCERTANTE [1087]
“Persuasively performed. Entertaining throughout!” THE WHOLE NOTE JOHN CORIGLIANO TO MUSIC
[1086] [1088]
ROGER REYNOLDS VIOLIN WORKS AVNER DORMAN SIKLON
Gabriela Díaz violin
[1089]
CARLOS SURINACH THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT
FULL CATALOG ON DISPLAY IN LOBBYGive to BMOP and BMOP/sound DONORS 19
We gratefully acknowledge the following individuals, corporations, and foundations whose
generous support has made our concerts and recordings possible. (Gifts acknowledged
Ticket revenue accounts for a fraction of the expense of BMOP below were received between July 2020 and January 2022.)
concerts, BMOP/sound CDs, and outreach programs. The sum of FOUNDATIONS, CORPORATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONS
Anonymous
many gifts of all sizes insures BMOP’s future. With your support,
Aaron Copland Fund for Music
we will advocate for composers of all ages, bring together The Howard and Katherine Aibel Foundation
audiences, young and old, distribute BMOP/sound recordings The Alice Ditson Fund at Columbia University
The Amphion Foundation
to international locations, and know that today’s landmark
Catherine and Paul Buttenwieser Foundation
orchestral works will remain a part of our collective memory. The Ellis L. Phillips Foundation
The Nancy Foss Heath and Richard B. Heath
Educational, Cultural and Environmental Foundation
BENEFITS OF GIVING INCLUDE The Jebediah Foundation
Massachusetts Cultural Council
Complimentary BMOP/sound CDs
National Endowment for the Arts
■
■ Recognition in BMOP programs and publications The Wise Family Charitable Foundation
■ Invitations to receptions with composers and guest artists Ortloff Organ Company
Ruane & Company
■ The knowledge that you are helping to sustain the present and future of
BMOP was supported by
orchestral music New Music USA’s New Music Organizational Development Fund
You may contribute in the following ways: QUARTER CENTURY CIRCLE
C ALL 781.324.0396 to speak to a BMOP staff member. Christopher Avery
James Barnett and Carolyn Haynes
VISIT www.bmop.org to give through
BMOP’s secure online donation form. Elizabeth S. Boveroux
Stephanie Boye
SC AN the QR code at right
David Lloyd Brown
to donate via our secure online form.
Jason and Sara Sedgwick Brown
MAIL your donation to BMOP, The Gregory E. Bulger Foundation
376 Washington Street, Malden, MA 02148.
H. Paris Burstyn
GIVE your contribution to a BMOP staff member tonight! Cape Harbor Realty
The Gay & Lesbian Review
For more information, please contact Sissie Siu Cohen, Rayford Law
General Manager, at 781.324.0396 or ssiu@bmop.org. Newton Wellesley Family Pediatrics
Saltmarsh Insurance Company
David Scudder
Anne-Marie Soulliere and Lindsey C.Y. Kiang20 BENEFACTORS ($10,000 and above) SUPPORTING MEMBERS ($100—$249) 21
Anonymous Brad Meyer Larry Banks Stephen Long
Christopher Avery Patricia O’Connor John C. Berg Joel Mayer
Elizabeth S. Boveroux Joanne Sattley Libby Blank Matthew McIrvin
David Lloyd Brown David and Marie Louise Scudder Sarah Boardman Lucy Murray
Sam and Deborah Bruskin Campbell Steward Eric Buehrens Kern Ormond
H. Paris Burstyn Renata E. Cathou Joseph Pennachio
Mary Chamberlain Ronald Perera
GUARANTORS ($5,000—$9,999)
Eric Chasalow and Barbara Cassidy Dimitar Petkov
In memory of Larry Philips Walter Howell and Jennifer Layzer
Frederick Cowan & Dr. Richard Gardner Harold I. Pratt
Stephanie Boye Gil Rose
Chen Yi and Zhou Long Djim Reynolds
Lawrence Devito Ronald Sampson
Donald Crockett Sheila Rizzo
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Anthony D’Amico Victor Rosenbaum
James Barnett and Carolyn Haynes
Jeffrey Duryea Mathew Rosenblum
LEADERS ($2,500—$4,999) Nicole Faulkner Curry Sawyer
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PAT RONS ($1,000—$2,499) Winifred Gray Mary Sherman
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Marjorie B. Cohn and Martin Cohn David Rakowski and Beth Wiemann James Kaddaras Peter Sulski
Eran and Yukiko Egozy Julie Rohwein and Jonathan Aibel Jim Kiely Chinary Ung
Dorothea Endicott Anne-Marie Soulliere and John and Rita Kubert Dan Vanhassel
Joel Gordon Lindsey C.Y. Kiang Joe Law Scott Wheeler
Richard Greene Brian Leahy Wendy Woodfield
Bruce and Linda Leibig Beverly Woodward and Paul Monsky
PARTNERING MEMBERS ($500—$999)
Kate and Gordon Baty John Loder FRIENDS ($99 and below)
Colleen Brannen Russ Lopez and Andrew Sherman Anonymous (2) Hugues Marchand
Joyce Carnes Robert and Jane Morse Nancy, Meyer, and Samuel Brown Rosalind Mohnson
Pravin Chaturvedi Patrick O’Shea Richard and Ruth Colwell Michael Moran
Timothy Davis Paul Tomkavage Bruce and Susan Creditor Jeffrey Nicolich
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Alice Adler and EdwS.Ginsberg Rachel Prabhakar
SPONSORING MEMBERS ($250—$499) Robert J. Henry Emily Rideout
Anonymous (2) Marvin and Elsa Miller Karl Koehler Mona and Malcolm Roberts
Birgit and Charles Blyth Eric Moe Paul Lehrman Mary Roetzel
Hans and Mary Lynn Bohn Andrea Pokladowski Harold Lichtin David Schneider
Gail Davidson and Tom Gidwitz Bernie and Sue Pucker Carol Lubkowski Paul Tomkavage
John Doherty Larry Rosenberg Laird Melamed
David and Eileen Felder Henry Schilb
Randal Guendel Vineet and Hillary Shende IN KIND
Ronald Haroutunian George Stalker John Kramer
Katherine Kayaian Hans Tutschku New England Conservatory
David A. Klaus Tom Walmsley
Russell Lopez Peter Wender
Arthur Mattuck Steven Wolfe22
B M O P B O A R D S A N D S TA F F
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chris Avery Co-founder, Boston Smoked Fish Co.
James Barnett Retired software architect
Elizabeth S. Boveroux, Vice President (retired), Eaton Vance Management
Treasurer
David Lloyd Brown
H. Paris Burstyn
Harriett Eckstein
Walter Howell Attorney, McCarter & English, LLP
Rayford Law Principal, Rayford W Law Architecture & Planning
Sam Mawn-Mahlau Attorney, Davis, Malm, & D’Agostine, PC
Gil Rose, President Artistic Director, BMOP
ADVISORY BOARD
Mark DeVoto Composer and Theorist, Tufts University
Alan Fletcher President and CEO, Aspen Music Festival
Charles Fussell Composer
John Harbison Composer, MIT
John Heiss Composer and Flutist, New England Conservatory
Joseph Horowitz Cultural Historian, Author
John Kramer Artist/Designer, John Kramer Design
Steven Ledbetter Musicologist
Tod Machover Composer and Director, Experimental Media Facility, MIT
Martin Ostrow Producer/Director, Fine Cut Productions
Bernard Rands Composer, Harvard University
Kay Kaufman Shelemay Ethnomusicologist, Harvard University
Lucy Shelton Soprano
STAFF
Gil Rose Artistic Director
Bailey Hoar Jensen Director of Institutional Advancement
Sissie Siu Cohen General Manager
Stefanie Lubkowski Development and Publications Manager
April Thibeault Publicist
Chuck Furlong Label Manager
eeWee Productions, LLC Social Media ManagementNewton-Wellesley
Family Pediatrics
is proud to honor
longtime BMOP Board Chair
Larry Phillips
and support BMOP’s
25th anniversary season.
Charles S. Brown, M.D.
Julia N. Brown, M.D.
Cally Gwon, M.D.
Steven Greer, M.D.
Margaret Fallon, M.D.
Charles D. Brown, Ph.D.
Mary Levenstein, MS., CPNP
Michelle Marini, MS., CPNP
2000 washington street, green bldg, suite 468, newton, ma 02462
phone: 617-965-6700 || fax: 617-965-5239 || nwfpediatrics.comTH E B O STO N M O D E R N O R C H E STRA PR OJ E CT
is the premier orchestra in the United States dedicated exclusively to commissioning,
performing, and recording music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. A unique
institution of crucial artistic importance to today’s musical world, the Boston Modern
Orchestra Project (BMOP) exists to disseminate exceptional orchestral music of the pres-
ent and recent past via performances and recordings of the highest caliber. Hailed as
“one of the most artistically valuable [orchestras] in the country for its support of music
either new or so woefully neglected that it might as well be” by The New York Times,
BMOP was the recipient of Musical America’s 2016 Ensemble of the Year award, the first
symphony orchestra in the organization’s history to receive this distinction.
Founded by Artistic Director Gil Rose in 1996, BMOP has championed composers whose
careers span nine decades. Each season, Rose brings BMOP’s award-winning orchestra,
renowned soloists, and influential composers to the stage of Boston’s premier venues in
a series that offers the most diverse orchestral programming in the city. The musicians
of BMOP are consistently lauded for the energy, imagination, and passion with which
they infuse the music of the present era. BMOP was selected as Musical America’s 2016
Ensemble of the Year, the first symphony orchestra to receive this distinction. In 2021,
Gramophone magazine bestowed BMOP with a Special Achievement Award in recogni-
tion of their service to American music.
BMOP’s distinguished and adventurous track record includes premieres and re-
cordings of monumental and provocative new works such as John Harbison’s ballet
Ulysses, Charles Wuorinen’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories, and Lei Liang’s A Thousand
Mountains, A Million Streams. A perennial winner of the ASCAP Award for Adventurous
Programming, the orchestra has been featured at festivals including Opera Unlimited,
the Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music with the ICA/Boston, Tanglewood, the Boston
Cyberarts Festival, the Festival of New American Music (Sacramento, CA), Music on the
Edge (Pittsburgh, PA), and the MATA Festival in New York. BMOP has actively pursued
a role in music education through composer residencies, and collaborations with col-
leges. The musicians of BMOP are equally at home in Symphony Hall, Weill Recital Hall
at Carnegie Hall, and in Cambridge’s Club Oberon and Boston’s Club Café, where they
pursued a popular, composer-led Club Concert series from 2003 to 2012.
BMOP/sound, BMOP’s independent record label, was created in 2008 to provide a
platform for BMOP’s extensive archive of music, as well as to provide widespread, top-
quality, permanent access to both classics of the 20th century and the music of today’s
most innovative composers. BMOP/sound has garnered praise from the national and
international press; it is the recipient of eight Grammy Award nominations and its re-
leases have appeared on the year-end “Best of” lists of The New York Times, The Boston
Globe, National Public Radio, Time Out New York, American Record Guide, Downbeat
Magazine, WBUR, NewMusicBox, and others. In 2020, BMOP/sound won the Grammy
for Best Opera Recording for Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.
BMOP expands the horizon of a typical “night at the symphony.” Admired, praised,
and sought after by artists, presenters, critics, and audiophiles, BMOP and BMOP/sound
are uniquely positioned to redefine the new music concert and recording experience.
JOHN KRAMER DESIGN
Boston Modern Orchestra Project
376 Washington Street, Malden, MA 02148
781.324.0396 | bmop@bmop.org | www.bmop.orgAS HISTORY, RACE,
TOLD
AND JUSTICE
BY ON THE
OPERA STAGE
FORGOT TEN OPERAS.
CURRENT MASTERPIECES.
NEW VOICES.
ANTHONY DAVIS X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
2022 — NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE
The Pulitzer Prize-winning composer’s revised version of
his seminal opera, performed at Dorchester’s Strand Theatre
NKEIRU OKOYE Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed
That Line to Freedom
2023 — NE PREMIERE / FULL ORCHESTRA COMMISSION
The Guggenheim Fellow’s first opera, about a woman who,
in Okoye’s words, “did great things and survived”
WILLIAM GRANT STILL Troubled Island
2024 — NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE
75th anniversary performances of the premiere of Still’s
grandest opera, in partnership with New York City Opera
ULYSSES KAY Frederick Douglass
2025 — NEW ENGLAND PREMIERE
The operatic gem considered by the composer to be his
magnum opus, not performed in full since its 1991 premiere
JONATHAN BAILEY HOLLAND The Bridge
2026 — WORLD PREMIERE / BMOP COMMISSION
A new opera about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s years in Boston
and his rise to national prominence
DIGITAL ART BY NETTRICE GASKINS
GIL ROSE, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
bmop.org | odysseyopera.org | #AsToldByYou can also read
